This invention relates generally to means for firmly supporting the preformed sides of flat-sided, open-topped objects with molded bottoms in upright positions while the bottoms are being molded, and more particularly to such means for steadily holding the preformed sides of open-topped, flat-bottomed napkin holders upright during formation of the napkin holder bottoms.
An extremely popular item of merchandise, judging by the frequency with which it is seen in gift and curio shops, as well as other outlets for novelty and the like items, is the ordinary napkin holder of the type having a pair of relatively flat, planarly parallel sides joined by a flat bottom of molded plastic construction. The sides of these napkin holders are often, similarly to their bottoms, of molded plastic construction. Sometimes the plastic is of a transparent character, and the napkin holder sides are formed with embedded decorative objects of one sort or another. For example, it is presently fashionable to embed miniature "memory" or "ecology boxes" having partitioned spaces filled with such things as small flower stalks, seeds, sheafs of grain, and the like, in the sides of such napkin holders.
Napkin holders of the above-described type are of relatively simple construction but their present methods of manufacture are so crude and primitive that many of them are misshapen. Where the napkin holders have plastic sides, the sides are generally cast separately and then arranged in standing pairs, after which plastic webs are molded between the bottom edges of the pairs to form the final holders with integral sides and bottoms. For this operation, the two sides of each napkin holder are supported in upright, planarly parallel positions with their bottom edges extending into the hollow of a mold adapted to receive a pourable resinous material of a type adapted to form the plastic web between said edges. Insofar as I am aware, the most common method heretofore practiced for supporting the sides of napkin holders in position while the napkin holder bottoms are being formed is to first support slotted boards at their ends in positions overlying rows of molds for the napkin holder bottoms, the slots in the boards being, typically, about 6 feet long. The napkin holder sides are then inserted manually through the slots and into the molds, after which the napkin holder bottoms are formed in the molds.
While the above-described method of making napkin holders serves its purpose after a fashion, the resulting products are oftentimes improperly formed because the slots in the boards are too imprecisely defined and positioned to permit good control of product quality during the operation, the boards are relatively easily shifted out of properly aligned positions with the molds, and a high probability of human error is inherent in such a crude manufacturing procedure. This accounts for the many imperfectly formed napkine holders on display in novelty shops, and the like, such as, for example, napkin holders with sides closer together at the top than at the bottom. While these imperfectly formed napkin holders can, for the most part, be made to serve their purpose, they are obviously neither as functional nor attractive as properly formed, perfectly symmetrical napkin holders, nor possessed of the same sales appeal as the latter. While it is common knowledge that flawed, or imperfect, merchandise will not sell as readily as unflawed merchandise of the same sort, no one has yet, to my knowledge, provided a commercially competitive way of turning out top quality napkin holders of the type under present consideration with dependable consistency, to meet the obviously huge demand for such items.